Pleiades is the name for the supercomputer that is housed at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility at NASA Ames Research Center near Mountain View, California, which was classed as the world’s thirteenth fastest computer on the TOP500 list in November 2015. But, this was not enough for the team at the research center and as of July 1st, 2016 Pleiades now features a total of 28 racks of Intel processors, increasing its theoretical peak performance power from 6.28 to 7.25 petaflops, which will certainly give it a boost in the next TOP500 list.
At the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility researchers combine data from several observatories including the Hubble Space Telescope with the supercomputer’s amazing capabilities to get the detailed images they need to uncover the truths of the great unknown universe.
Without the upgrades to the supercomputer, the images that are now being produced were just impossible, and researchers are now able to progress their studies at a much faster rate than previously. So far, the results generated from ORION2 have been consistent, and the simulations clearly show a mix of gravity, radiation, hydrodynamics magnetic fields and so much more. Now, in the continuum to the current study, researchers can also use the upgraded technology to take a closer look at the planetary formation.
Press Release Update:
To make room for more Intel Xeon E5-2680v4 (Broadwell) racks, as of the 1st July NASA removed all of the remaining racks that housed Intel Xeon X5670 (Westmere) processors. This upgrade has now doubled the number of Broadwell nodes, increasing the computer’s potential performance power to 7.25 petaflops and now makes the total number of racks containing Intel processors 161, providing more than 900 terabytes of memory.
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